Abstract
This research is focused on evaluating the transformation of land use preferences in Multan City, Pakistan, for 30 years of study from 1993 to 2023. To accommodate the enhancement in population growth within the city, changes in land use patterns are rapid. With the temporal gap of 10 years, four specified years (1993, 2003, 2013, and 2023) are selected as study years. Supervised classification is applied to satellite images from different Landsat satellites for each study year. The analysis results indicate a considerable alteration in the land use priorities of Multan city over the study period. The expansion in the built-up area is substantial and increased from 9% in 1993 to 32% in 2023. This suggests urbanisation and infrastructure advancement in the city. Agricultural land has decreased significantly, dropping from 76% in 1993 to 66% in 2023. This reduction is attributed to urban expansion encroaching upon agricultural areas as the city grows. The area covered by water bodies has experienced a significant decline, decreasing from 4% of the total area in 1993 to only 1% in 2023. The research highlights the importance of monitoring these changes to ensure sustainable urban development.